The Poker Lab Rat

To all Poker Players,

How would you like to play against Doyle and Todd Brunson and 15 other pro players in a live high-stakes cash game in the place where poker became famous…Binion’s Casino in downtown Las Vegas?

If this is your thing - there is ONE EXCLUSIVE SEAT AVAILABLE at the Ultimate Poker Challenge Cash Poker Game at Binion’s Casino on Wednesday December 20, 2006. 

Fancy some poker fame? This game will be televised and will feature Doyle, Todd, Barry Greenstein, Chad Brown and a host of others.  Doyles Room Poker will be sending one lucky player to this event along with $25,000 in chips plus travel expenses.  This seat will go to the winner of our online qualifier - the Ultimate Poker Challenge Cash Game Qualifier - on Sunday, December 10, 2006 at 7:00pm ET. 

The buy-in to this qualifier is $250+$25 but Feeders to the Ultimate Poker Challenge Cash Game Qualifier will start on Wednesday, November 27th at 9:00pm ET and run until Saturday, December 9, 2006.  The buy-in will only be $50+$5.

You can find more details on the game here.

NOTE: Due to US legislation unfortunately USA residents from Louisiana and Washington State are not able to play for real money at Doyles Room Poker. All other American Poker Players are warmly welcomed at Doyles Room Poker.

ONLINE POKER VOUCHERS MAKE GREAT CHRISTMAS PRESENTS.
Really!

“Give the gift of poker” so you can play friends and family online for money without feeling bad about the whipping they’re about to get!

What about a Christmas gift for the neighbour who you know is always online at 3am? Your brother-in-law or the guy from the office who’s so damned hard to buy for?

Poker Gift Vouchers are one of the cool features at Full Tilt Poker. (And US Players are still warmly welcomed)

Purchasing a gift certificate is fast and easy. You need to set up a Full Tilt Poker Account (if you do not already have one). Then just click on the “Gift Certificates” button in the Cashier section. You can buy a Gift Certificate for little as $25, and your purchase will be automatically debited from your Full Tilt Poker account. Once you make your purchase, Full Tilt will email you a link with your Gift Certificate Number. Click on this link and you will be taken to the Gift Certificate page where you can choose what you want your voucher to look like, and add a personalized message. When you’re done, Full Tilt’ll send you the final Gift Certificate in PDF format, which you can email to the recipient or just print out and deliver personally.

All pretty cool.

Christmas shopping the easy way.

Elle. 
 

Sick of all the dross over ‘celebrity’ poker?

We recommend savvy Aussie site Poker.com for some quick and fun cash game poker without all the hype. Actually, the tournament play is not bad either. In fact, the 3-hourly Freerolls are a great place to start to play serious Hold’em. And, unlike many sites, Poker.com’s Freerolls are actually FREE. ie few, if any, Action Point / raked hand requirements.

Poker.com - visit them now.

Poker.com is a great poker room to toughen up (lose that ‘fish’ classification but perhaps not earn the title ‘Shark’ - other poker rooms like Bet365 Poker or Doyles Room are better to refine your true killer instincts).

Poker.com has unique software with some great features that the bigger mass market poker sites just do not offer. We like “Rabbit Hunt” (what card would have come next) and the “Expose One Card” options.  The ability to show the relative win percentages of all players remaining in a hand at showdown is also great (just like TV poker).  

Poker.com has a squeaky-clean reputation (strange for Australians renowned for their convict ancestors) - it’s legal (licenced in Kahnawake, Canada), safe and friendly - and they even welcome poker players from the USA.

Poker.com - visit them now. (Go on, you know you want to )

Elle

PS: Sorry, I have not had enough of a rant about ‘poker celebrities’ - these ‘anything-to-keep-in-the-limelight’  celebs range from a mix of true poker pros and self acclaimed poker “legends”,  to movie stars, former athletes and sports stars and of course the more general socialite pap. (What is with “the less attractive Hilton sister” hosting poker tournaments?)

Why the hell would I want to play these egos at poker? - let alone fawn all over them in the poker table chat? It is just embarassing. Have you no shame? This is not the way to make money playing poker. Get real guys.

My partner has an expression that I think is quite apt:

“even if [insert celebrity name here] was outside my window - I’d pull the curtains”. I’d apply this to most so-called celebrities currently on the poker bandwagon. 

(I must admit he generally applies this expression to opposition football teams playing on our lawn…)

(Which in itself is hugely unlikely as we live on a cliff top overlooking a harbour )

Calling all Canadian Poker Players who want to make a buck. Hollywood Poker’s Canadian Poker Night really is where you want to be on Tuesday nights.

Win some money and earn bragging rights by taking down players like James Woods, Mimi Rogers and Vince Van Patten. (Plus lots more)

Play in the Canadian Poker Night at Hollywood Poker as all celebrities at this top Ongame Poker Network site have bounties on their heads. These are movie star types not poker pros - so if you’re any good you’re in with a chance!

Hollywood Poker has paid out over $100,000 in Celebrity bounties this year and here’s your newest chance to get in on the action. Knock out Celebrities and win a $500 cash bounty. It’s a low buy-in at $5 +0.50 and the poker tournamant runs every Tuesday night at 10 pm EST.

Celebrities are easy to spot online - they have a gold star (it might as well be a bullseye or cross hairs of a gun sight).

Good luck - see you at the tables!

Mike (player tag: MRat)

>>Link to Hollywood Poker review
>>Link directly to Hollywood Poker

Here’s an update on an online gambling industry business merger and acquisition that may affect you especially if you play poker at either of our 2 top Tribeca Tables based poker rooms (Doyles Room or VC Poker).

Israeli-based Playtech Limited are just concluding negotiations to buy out the poker business assets of rival Tribeca Tables Europe Limited for between $75 million and $139 million. The actual figure will be based on performance. Playtech operate the iPoker network of Playtech poker based poker rooms - (e.g. BetFred Poker) and also offer some of the best online casino entertainment on the net.

Playtech are Cyprus-based but are traded on the London AIM stock market.

In a media release Playtech’s Chief Executive, Avigur Zmora states “This is a landmark deal for Playtech, which in one move, transforms the company into the world’s leading poker network that excludes U.S. players. Tribeca is an outstanding fit for us and the company’s licensees are operating, for the most part, in different geographical locations to Playtech’s current poker licensees”.

“We look forward to welcoming Tribeca’s licensees and offering them the best combination of poker knowledge and world leading technology. Both Tribeca and Playtech are committed to a smooth transitional period to ensure that migrating licensees can continue to offer the most attractive poker environment for their players.”

The PokerLabRat.com team understands that the Tribeca online poker operators will be migrated to Playtech’s platform within six months.

FYI the images below show Texas Holdem poker tables from Tribeca and Playtech poker rooms respectively. The links in this blog link to comprehensive player reviews of each poker room.

With all the noise and confusion surrounding the banishment of US players from many online poker rooms it’s easy to forget that life goes on for the rest of us non USA-based Hold’em Hounds.

The market positioning and even the solvency of many online poker rooms has changed considerably as sites vie for their share of a smaller pool of poker players. As a player you should keep an eye on the financial stability of the site/s at which you play. (The #1 deciding factor for gambling site testing specialists, PokerLabRat.com, in recommending a poker room is confidence in the poker room operator’s ability to professionally manage player funds. Full stop. No b-shit avatar graphics, dinky little table features or tempting joining bonuses even come close to the significance of this #1 criterion). 

That said, we are treading cautiously with all the talk of mergers and acquisitions in an industry where customers - that’s you and me - are simply considered cattle (well, rolled up into the company asset sheet anyway). Online gambling customer loyalty is an interesting challenge for these businesses as players are highly mobile and services are often difficult to differentiate.

The betting and gaming companies jumping ship on their existing poker network providers to retain the ability to offer US action is also a worrying trend. We will be monitoring the transitions to new providers accordingly. (An example in the wings is CanBet Poker - currently operating on the Ongame Network and no longer able to register real play Amercians).

Publicly traded companies make life easy for us. Their books are relatively transparent and their plans and actions are documented so their shareholders can make informed decisions about investment. This should also make it easier for you to make informed decisions about where to play your poker!

Betsson AB, the holding company in the Betsson Group (BETS-B) is one publicly listed company that offers great online poker. The Betsson poker room, despite the company’s Swedish origins and company listing, is licenced in Kahnawake, Canada and has a London, UK base. Betsson Poker is part of the Ongame Poker Network and so no USA residents can play.  Betsson Group’s Betsson Sports is a leading European Bookmaker and the Betsson Sports Betting Exchange is second only to Betfair (The Sporting Exchange Limited).

If you are scouting for a new poker room Betsson Poker has just introduced a 100% first deposit match bonus to $100 to attract new poker players in November.

Links for more information on Betsson Poker:

The PokerLabRat.com review of Betsson Poker

A poker room guide on online gambling advisory site www.goonersguide.com

Go to Betsson Poker

Elle

Yesss!

The [insert your own offensive descriptor here] who sponsored The Unlawful Internet Gaming Act, Republican Jim Leach, has been given the boot after 30 years in the Senate.

Unfortunately anti-gambling proponent Bob Goodlatte has held his seat, but many are now wondering where the online industry stands in the new Democrat Senate majority.

Interesting times ahead as they try to define and implement this sucker…

Elle 

In the meanwhile here are links to 2 pages that may be of interest and help you make some informed decisions on where to gamble online:

1-page comparision of the top online poker sites with doors still open to US Players

1-page comparision of good online casinos for USA Residents

Do you have what it takes to become Fulltilt’s next mega winner?  

In August, 2006, Tilters (online poker players at Full Tilt Poker) competed for a cool $1 million in guaranteed prizes at the inaugrual Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS). Note the ONLINE bit - this is not the sort of tournament you have to even leave home for to win big! You can play it naked for all we care…

Last time round hoodini10 won a FTOPS event and took home $86,000 for an afternoon’s worth of play. And, in the FTOPS Main Event, crownnginger turned a $75 satellite entry into a whopping $161,480. All good stuff.

It’s that time of the year again!  Go for the gold and play for your share of more than $2.5 million in guaranteed prize money in November at Full Tilt.

The winners of these events will also get a one-of-a-kind gold Full Tilt Poker jersey in addition to their prize money. But wait, there’s more…Of course, what good is an online championship title if you can’t do a little bragging the next time you sit down at your favorite Full Tilt Poker game? That’s why each tournament winner will also receive a special FTOPS gold jersey avatar.

How cool is that?

So if you’re ready to play for the FTOPS title, make sure you don’t miss one of the nightly tournaments. Buy-ins for these events range from $200 + $16 to $500 + $35 with satellites starting for as little as $4 + $.40. See the Full Tilt Poker Schedule for details.

Be sure to join in at 6PM ET on Sunday, November 19th for the FTOPS Main Event. With at least $1 million up for grabs, this is Full Tilt’s biggest cash guarantee ever.

Whatcha waiting for?
Click HERE to visit Full Tilt Poker  - OK, Deal me in!

>>More info on Full Tilt Poker in a poker room review HERE
>>US Players might like to read this update from Full Tilt HERE (It’s business as usual…)

If you’ve seen Ocean’s 11, you’ll know the Bellagio. Now Eurobet Poker has TWO VIP packages worth $20,000 up for grabs to play poker at this incredible venue with the best players in the world… And you could be going for FREE!
 
The third annual Five Diamond World Poker Classic is taking place at the famous Bellagio Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas in December, and with a main event buy-in of $15,000, there’s going to be some serious cash up for grabs. Last year the prize pool was over $8,000,000!

Eurobet Poker is offering you the opportunity to play for a VIP package worth $20,000. There are several ways to enter, including a free-entry tournament every Monday! 
 
The Ultimate Poker Prize of 2006 - the VIP Package includes the $15,000 buy-in,  Flights and hotel for two during the event plus $1,000 to spend…

Sounds good to me so what are YOU waiting for??

Here’s how to enter!

1. Firstly make a cash deposit into your Eurobet account (or set one up if you’ve not already got one!)
2. Either download the poker room software, or launch instant play (either way it’s safe and secure - part of the Ongame Network)
3. Choose a screen-name, and make a transfer of at least $5 into ‘Poker’ in the ‘Cashier’
4. Register for any of the ‘Bellagio’ poker tournaments under the ‘Tournaments’ section
5. Play - win - fly!

It’s that simple! 

Check out our Eurobet Poker Review or just visit Eurobet Poker HERE to get into the action today… See you at a Eurobet Poker table soon!

Elle
PS: Sorry, no USA Residents can play at Eurobet Poker (Eurobet Poker is part of the Ongame Network).

We can tell that some of you lot have been resisting our efforts to get you playing at BetFred Poker - and so we’ve redoubled our efforts and can bring you a HUUUUGGEEE bonus.

BetFred Poker have just increased their welcome deposit bonus from $100 to $500 and unlike many poker rooms - BetFred’s bonuses are actually achievable.

On our Bonus Comparision Page we calculated that BetFred give you $1 bonus for every 10 raked hands (roughly) which is very good payback ratio as I’m sure all you bonus hunters already know.

And remember that BetFred is not one of those places that offers a big welcome and forgets all about you. The guys there run a very tidy reward scheme that makes sure that active players are looked after with additional bonus money each and every month that you play there.

Check out our full BetFred Poker review on the main PokerLabrat.com site now  …
Or if you’ve heard enough already then click to get to BetFred’s poker site and get going.